A Summary of major Construction Projects

The vast majority of the work to improve railway lines, which impacts on the frequency and journey times info as per the journey guides, is completed over one Sat/Sun period.
So if you can't find a usual route or a train departure online, it can be worth having a look at the links to the national construction work, which you will find below.
You may then have to translate what you'll find, but it can be worth the effort to discover what's occurring and to glean whether you'll need to take a bus for part of the journey, or whether trains are being diverted.
Alterations to the usual service are often not particularly obvious when looking up the journey on a ticket booking service.

The information included below is a guide to the the more extensive construction projects which are impacting on train services for a week or more.
Therefore these are the projects which are good to be aware of if you're planning a rail pass itinerary and want to avoid any hassle, or are wondering why a typical connection isn't available on multiple dates.

These are the upcoming rail construction projects which;

• last more than a weekend, so also impact on Monday to Friday travel
• affect long-distance express trains
• result in trains being diverted, with longer journey times (which impacts on connections)
• Or, are being substituted by buses for part of the journey.

1: No trains at Hallstatt from July 24th to September 11th
Due to construction work no trains can operate between Bad Ischl and Attnang-Puchheim from July 24th through to September 11th (04:00 am).
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged.
As a result Hallstatt will not be served by trains during this time.

2: No trains between Linz and Selzthal from Aug 5th to Sept 11th
Due to construction work some trains cannot operate between Linz/Donau Hbf and Selzthal Bahnhof from August 5th (07:00am) through September 11th (06:00am). A rail replacement bus service will be substituted.

3: No trains between Innsbruck and Brennero from Aug 6th to 23rd
Due to construction work no trains can operate between Innsbruck Hbf and Brennero/Brenner stazione/Bahnhof from 10pm on August 6th until 5am on August 23rd.
A rail replacement bus service will be arranged which will increase journey times by 30 minutes.

4: Between Schwarzach-St.Veit and Zell am See from Sept 8th-30th
Due to construction work no trains can operate between Schwarzach-St.Veit and Zell am See from September 8th (07:00pm) through to September 30 (05:00am).
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged.
The daytime trains which typically come this way include the 'Transalpin' EC train on its Zurich <> Graz route and the trains between Salzburg and Zell am See.
The night trains that take this route, will be re-directed away from the affected area.

5: Between Stainach-Irdning and Schladming from October 3rd to October 8th
Due to construction work, some long-distance trains cannot run between Stainach-Irdning and from October 3rd (06:30) to October 8th.
A rail replacement service with buses will be in place and the travel times of some trains between Stainach-Irdning and Graz will be changed.
The affected day trains include those which take the Innsbruck - Worgl - Zell am See - Stainach-Irdning - Schladming - Graz route.
The night trains between Innsbruck and Graz will be diverted via Villach.

6: Between Salzburg and Innsbruck from October 5th to November 6th
The Railjet express trains on the Wien/Vienna Linz - Salzburg ↔ - Kufstein - Innsbruck - Feldkirch - Bregenz route travel through Germany on the section of the journey between Salzburg and Kufstein.
Due to construction work by the German national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, these trains cannot run between Salzburg Hbf and Kufstein Bahnhof from October 5th, 2023 to November 6th, 2023.
On some departures a rail replacement service with buses will be set up for part of route, but other services will be diverted on to a longer route via Zell am See.

7: On the Arlberg route between Innsbruck and Feldkirch from October 9th to November 6th
Due to construction work, no long-distance trains can run between Ötztal Bahnhof and Bludenz Bahnhof from October 9th, 2023 (8:30 a.m.) to November 6th, 2023 (12:00 p.m.). A rail replacement service with buses will be in place.
The affected trains will include the Railjet trains on the Wien/Vienna - Salzburg - Innsbruck ↔ Ötztal - Landeck-Zams - St. Anton - Bludenz - Feldkirch - Bregenz route.
The night trains will be diverted.

TGVs from/to Paris Montparnasse

The lines used by the TGV trains on the 'Atlantique' routes between Paris and Bordeaux, Rennes and Toulouse are being periodically disrupted at different construction sites until early December.

Much of the scheduled work is taking place over single weekends, but the work over multiple dates includes:

(1) On most weekends in November, the TGVs on the Paris <> Toulouse route in both directions will have Agen or Bordeaux as their origin/terminus station.
Replacement coaches will be set up between Agen and Toulouse and between Bordeaux and Toulouse.
This work will also lead to the Bordeaux <> Marseille trains being turned around in Toulouse on the relevant dates.

(2) Works are taking place near Massy-TGV station on multiple dates and at these times the TGVs to the Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions will leave and arrive at Paris-Austerlitz station, with an extension of the journey time of around 30 minutes.
The TGVs bound for Brittany and the Pays de la Loire will run on a slower line, with an extension of the journey time by 1 hour.
The dates of the works are:

• From midday July 17 to midday July 20, 2023 and from midday August 7 to midday August 10.

1: Between Hannover and Berlin

Until Friday, June 30, 12:00am
Several ICE and IC trains are canceled between Berlin Ostbahnhof and Hannover Hbf.
Some long-distance trains are diverted from Berlin-Gesundbrunnen (additional stop)/Berlin Hbf to Hannover Hbf via Magdeburg Hbf and Braunschweig Hbf (partly additional stops).

2: The high speed line between between Kassel and Fulda
Until December 9th, a key section of the primary north<>south high-speed line in Germany is closed due to renewal works.
During the this time, the ICE trains travelling between Kassel and Fulda will be diverted on to the older classic line, which the high-speed route avoids.

The (Kiel) - Hamburg or Bremen - Hannover - Kassel - Wurzburg - Nurnberg - (Augsburg) - Munchen services will be diverted on to a slower route.
During this time these trains will mainly depart at their usual time and operate at their usual schedules between Munchen and Fulda when heading north; and between Hamburg/Bremen and Kassel when heading south, but the diversion will add around 60 mins to the journey time.
As a result trains from Munchen will arrive at Kassel, Gottingen, Hannover, Bremen. Hamburg and destinations north of Hamburg around an hour later than the usual timetable.
In the opposite direction heading south, trains from Bremen, Hamburg and Hannover, will arrive into Fulda, Wurzburg, Nurnberg and Munchen an hour later than the usual time.

However, in order to minimize disruption to arrival and departures at the extremities of the ICE routes, particularly in Switzerland, the long-standing routes of many ICE services are to be drastically altered until December 9th.

1. ICE route 12 is the Berlin - Wolfsburg - Braunschweig - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe, Freiburg - Basel - Olten Bern - Interlaken route.
   However,the trains on this route are turning round Frankfurt (Main); and taking an alternative route between Kassel and Frankfurt.

2. ICE route 20 is the Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe, Freiburg - Basel - Zurich - Chur route.
   However, it has had its Swiss destinations switched so that it takes over the Germany ↔ Olten - Bern - Interlaken service of route 12, instead of its calls in Zurich, Landquart and Chur.
   It is also be around 45 mins slower on the part of the route between Hannover and Frankfurt (Main).
   So the current 1 x train per day on the Hamburg ↔ Interlaken route has temporarily become a three trains per day service, with other departures being turned around in Basel.

3. The Germany ↔ Zurich - Landquart - Chur service usually provided by route 20 is being covered by a major change to route 11.
   Route 11 usually takes a Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - München route.
   However, it is currently taking a Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel - Zurich (Landquart - Chur) route.
   As a result the Germany ↔ Zurich route is being covered by trains which won't be on a route impacted by the works on the high-speed line.

4. The usual Frankfurt (Main) ↔ München section of route 11 is to be covered by a change to route 22.
   Instead of being a Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Frankfurt Flughafen - ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart route, it is already a
   Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - München route.

5. So that a direct service can be maintained between Berlin and Stuttgart, route 15 is being extended beyond Frankfurt (Main) to provide a Berlin - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) - Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart route.

6. The route 13 service of Berlin - Kassel - Frankfurt (Sud) - Frankfurt Flughafen is being withdrawn on many dates.

4: ICE trains between Berlin and Braunschweig Hbf

Until July 1, 10:00 pm several ICE trains on the Berlin - Braunschweig - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) route will be leaving Berlin Ostbahnhof/Berlin Hbf up to 60 minutes earlier and will make an additional call at Magdeburg Hbf.
The stop at Berlin-Spandau will be cancelled.

5: In the Frankfurt (Main) area
Until Monday, July 3, 4:35 am:

• Some ICE trains are diverted between Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and Mannheim Hbf and run up to 30 minutes later.
• Some ICE trains will be diverted between Frankfurt (Main) Süd (additional stop)/Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and Heidelberg Hbf and will run up to 15 minutes later.
• Some ICE trains run between Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and Mannheim Hbf up to 12 minutes later.

6: At Stuttgart Hbf

From Friday, July 7, 3:00 am to Friday, July 21, 3:00 am, many long of the long-distance trains which travel between Stuttgart and Munich won't be able to call at Stuttgart Hbf.
Some trains will be calling at Esslingen (Neckar) instead, and other trains will be turned round in Stuttgart.

1: South of Oxford

A bridge requires urgent repairs and this has closed the railway between Didcot Parkway and Oxford station, with the work not now due to be completed until June 9th.
Buses are substituting for the trains between the two stations.
The key two affected routes are:

• London Paddington - Reading - Didcot Parkway ↔ Oxford* - Evesham - Worcester - Hereford
• Bournemouth - Southampton - Winchester - Reading - Didcot Parkway ↔ Oxford - Leamington Spa - Birmingham - Stoke-on-Trent - Manchester
  *= During this time the only direct London ↔ Oxford service will be the Chiltern trains to and from London Marylebone.
  earlier to maintain connections at Machynlleth.

2: Between Derby and Chesterfield

From May 27th to June 2nd and from June 3rd to June 9th engineering work is closing the railway between Derby and Chesterfield.
As a result CrossCountry trains between Derby and Sheffield will be diverted on to an alternative route, which will add around an hour to the journey time.
Instead of two EMR trains per hour on the London - Derby - Sheffield route, one train will be turned around in Derby, leaving one train per hour between London and Sheffield that will be diverted on to an alternative route.

3: The Severn Tunnel
From June 9th to June 18th, work is closing the route through the Severn Tunnel.
As a consequence:

• Trains between London and South Wales will be diverted through Gloucester and won't be calling at Bristol Parkway.
• The trains on the Cardiff <> Taunton route and the trains on the Cardiff <> Portsmouth route will both be turned round at Bristol Parkway.

5: Between Manchester and North Wales

From Sunday 9 to Sunday 16 July buses replace Transport for Wales trains between Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Piccadilly, as a result the trains which typically travel on the Manchester - Warrington - Chester - Llandudno route will be turning round in Warrington between these dates.

6: Between Rugby and Stafford

From Sunday July 15th until July 23rd engineering work is taking place between Rugby and Stafford via Nuneaton, closing all lines.
This route is used by the Avanti West Coast services between London and Glasgow, Holyhead, Liverpool and Manchester.

As a result the trains on these routes, which will still be serving London during this time, will be diverted through the Birmingham area, which will add more than 45 minutes to the journey time.

Monday to Friday; July 17th to July 21st:
Trains will be operating hourly on these five routes:

• Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston via Stoke on Trent diverting via Bescot (not via Birmingham New Street).
• Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston via Crewe (not via Birmingham New Street).
• London Euston and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh via Bescot (not via Birmingham New Street).
• Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston.
• Preston / Edinburgh and London Euston via Birmingham New Street; trains on this route won't be diverted as they typically serve Birmingham

Saturday and Sunday; July 15/16th and 22/23rd:

Trains will be operating hourly on these four routes:

• Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent diverting via Bescot (not via Birmingham New Street).
• Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston via Crewe (not via Birmingham New Street).
• Trains between London Euston and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh via Bescot (not via Birmingham New Street).
• Preston and Edinburgh service via Birmingham New Street; trains on this route won't be diverted as they typically serve Birmingham

One service every two hours will run between Liverpool Lime Street and Crewe.
Holyhead services will run between Holyhead and Crewe only.

7: Chiltern Railways at Oxford

From July 29th to Friday August 4th The Chiltern Railways service between London Marylebone station and Oxford will be turning around at Oxford Parkway station.
Therefore GWR will be providing the only service between London and Oxford during this time.

8: South of Leamington Spa

From Saturday 29 July until Sunday 6 August (Friday pm excepted), CrossCountry trains on the Bournemouth - Southampton - Winchester - Reading - Didcot Parkway - Oxford - Banbury ↔ Leamington Spa - Coventry - Birmingham - Stoke-on-Trent - Manchester route, will be replaced by buses between Leamington Spa and Banbury or Oxford.
During this time these trains will also be diverted and won't be serving Coventry, so buses will operate between Coventry and Leamington Spa.

From Sunday 30 July until Friday 4 August, buses replace trains between Bicester North and Leamington Spa on the Chiltern Railways London Marylebone ↔ Birmingham route.

1: Parma <> La Spezia
Until June 11th buses substitute for trains on the Parma <> La Spezia route.

2: Milano <> Tirano
From June 11th to Sept 10th buses replace the trains between Sondrino and Tirano due to works on the line.
It is being improved ahead of the 2026 Olympics, because the skiing and boarding events are being staged in the resort towns of Bornio and Livigno, which will be linked to Tirano by bus services.

3: Brennero <> Trento

Due to construction work trains cannot operate between Brennero and Trento from August 7th through to August 11th.
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged which will increase journey times by up to 90 minutes. Connections cannot be guaranteed. Bicycles cannot be transported.
This info is on OBB, Austrian railways website, but does not (yet) appear on the Trenitalia works schedule.

4: Bologna <> Firenze (not the high-speed line)
Until Aug 4th construction work north of Firenze/Florence is closing the classic route between the city and Bologna, so the high speed trains are unaffected.
What are impacted are the Intercity trains on two routes;

• The trains which normally take a Milano – Parma – Modena – Bologna ↔ Firenze Rifredi – Arezzo – Roma Tiburtina – Napoli route, will instead only be available between Firenze Campo di Marte station and Napoli.
• The trains which normally take a Trieste – Venezia Mestre – Padova - Ferrara - Bologna ↔ Firenze Rifredi – Arezzo - Roma Termini route will be diverted between Bologna and Roma and will instead travel via Rimini.

Between June 27th to August 26th work is impacting on the railways around Drammen, a town to the west of Oslo, on the routes between the Norwegian capital and both Bergen and Kristiansand.
During this time the trains on the Oslo ↔ Bergen route won't be calling at Drammen and will have their journey times extended.

However the trains between Oslo and Kristiansand will be replaced on a section of the route by buses; and this includes both the daytime express trains on the Oslo - Kristiansand - Stavanger route and the night train between Oslo and Stavanger

(1) Until July the railway is closed between Ourense and Monforte de Lemos in Galicia.
Buses are replacing trains over sections of the following long-distance routes:

• The Alvia trains on the Vigo/A Coruna - Barcelona routes between Ourense and Monforte
• The Alvia trains on the Madrid - Lugo route between Ourense and Lugo
• The MD trains on the Ourense - A Coruna route between Ourense and Monforte

(2) Until September 30th maintenance work is being carried out on the high speed line between Madrid and Cordoba, as result the number of AVE trains between Madrid and Sevilla/Seville has been reduced by around 25%.
Also the journey times of trains between Madrid and Cordoba, Malaga and Sevilla have been temporarily increased, typically by around 20-25 minutes.

Until October 29th, reconstruction work is closing part of the route north of Buchs, which is used by trains on the Zurich main station - Zurich Airport - St Gallen - St Margrethen - Buchs - Landquart - Chur route, so buses will be substituting for the trains between Alstatten station and Buchs.
So during this time there will be no direct trains between Zurich Airport and Chur.

These are the upcoming major works on the railway lines, that will be impacting on international railway routes over sustained periods of time.

No TGVs will be serving Luxembourg station, the trains will be substituted by buses between Luxembourg and either Metz or Thionville on the following weekends:

• June 10/11th,
• June 17/18th,
• June 24/25th,
• July 1/2nd
• July 22/23rd
• August 26/27th
• October 21/22nd
• October 28/29th
• November 18/19th
• November 25/26th
• December 2/3rd
• December 9/10th

The Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Wurzburg - Nurnberg ↔ Linz - Wien/Vienna service will be cancelled from April 1st to December 9th, due to the maintenance work on the high speed line in Germany and in its place there will be an additional Dortmund - Koln - Bonn - Frankfurt (Main) - Wurzburg - Nurnberg ↔ Linz - Wien/Vienna service.

Due to construction work no trains can operate between Innsbruck Hbf and Brennero/Brenner stazione/Bahnhof from 10pm on August 6th until 5am on August 23rd. A rail replacement bus service is being arranged which will increase journey times by 30 minutes.
This will impact on the EC trains on the Munich - Innsbruck ↔ Brennero - Bolzano - Verona (and beyond) route.

According to another alert on OBB from August 7th through to August 11th the rail replacement bus service is having to be extended so that it operates Innsbruck ↔ Trento with consequent travel time increases of up to 90 minutes. Connections cannot be guaranteed and Bicycles cannot be transported.

It looks very much as though the trains on the Basel - Bern ↔ Domodossola - Milan route are being turned around in Domodossola from August 20th to September 10th, presumably due to work on the railway line in Italy between Domodossola and Milan.
This information hasn't been posted on the Trenitalia website, but tickets are not available for journeys between Swiss locations and Milan during this time.

The two other Basel ↔ Milan trains per day, which take an alternative route through Luzern and Lugano are unaffected.

Danish rail operator DSB is undertaking a program of improvement on the route between Kobenhavn / Copenhagen and Odense until August 6th, which will impact on the schedule of the Kobenhavn / Copenhagen ↔ Hamburg trains.

Details of the amended timings can be looked on a dedicated info page for this service, which has been created by DSB.
On most dates on which the schedule is being altered, only the departure and arrival times are adjusted, but when other works have a more dramatic impact on the service, then that has been included too.

Due to construction work the train NJ 50466 cannot operate between Praha hl.n. and Zürich HB from June 15th through to June 29th.

From Friday, July 7 until Friday, July 20 the daily TGV train on the Paris - Stuttgart - Munich/Munchen route will be turning around in Stuttgart and won't be calling in Ulm, Augsburg and Munchen Hbf.

Due to construction work, no long-distance trains can run between Ötztal Bahnhof and Bludenz Bahnhof from October 9th, 2023 (8:30 a.m.) to November 6th, 2023 (12:00 p.m.). A rail replacement service with buses will be in place.

The affected services are all of the long-distance trains which travel between Austria and Switzerland including the daytime Railjet services on the Bratislava/Budapest - Wien/Vienna - Salzburg - Innsbruck ↔ Feldkirch - Buchs - Zurich route.

The night trains which operate between Zagreb, Budapest, Wien/Vienna and Zurich will apparently be diverted, presumably on an entirely different route between Salzburg and Zurich.

Between June 10th and September 10th, work on the Italian rail network south of Bologna, is resulting in the Nightjet trains on the Munich ↔ Florence and Rome being diverted so that instead of serving Firenze/Florence and Roma/Rome, the trains will be taking a Munich - Bologna - Rimini - Ancona route in both directions.

Until October 28th work is being carried out the route between Stuttgart and Singen, with buses substituting for trains for part of the journey, which will increased journey times by around 30 minutes.

Between June 23rd and August 4th these trains are having to be diverted away from their usual route, so journey times between Amsterdam and both Hannover and Berlin will be extended by around an hour.